The next morning, Yan Wan spoke excitedly over breakfast.
"We'll be taking you out today, sister Shu! I want to bring you to the Jiang Nan Mall. You know about it, right? It's the biggest and newest mall in Jiang Nan City, owned by Mr. Tang."
"…Mr. Tang?" Mu Rong Shu repeated. She glanced at me, but I simply smiled enigmatically. Not that Yan Wan noticed. Instead, she carried on.
"My boyfriend will be coming as well! This is the best chance we have to introduce him to you!"
"That's a great idea!" Ru Feng nodded. She and Yan Yang were coming along too. Apparently it was a tradition for the parents to follow their daughter out on dates with her boyfriend. I doubted that. I suspected they were following us today just to enjoy the show of me being humiliated as they compared me to Yan Wan's boyfriend. You know, because this was a son-in-law story.
"Uh…" Mu Rong Shu shared my suspicions, which was why she was reluctant, but her aunt continued to press her.
"Perhaps we can even get Liu Zhang Feng to introduce one of his friends to you?"
"Huh?" Mu Rong Shu looked puzzled. "Whatever for?"
"You need to marry a more reliable and useful man," Ru Feng explained. "Someone richer and more high class."
"I'm already married, you know." Mu Rong Shu scowled. There was a hint of warning in her words, but her relatives pointedly ignored her.
"So what? You can just divorce that useless trash and then marry a better husband."
"Don't you dare call Huan Shi useless trash!" Mu Rong Shu snapped. "And I will never divorce him! He's ten times better than the three of you combined!"
Yan Yang, Ru Feng and Yan Wan exchanged several glances before bursting out in laughter.
"Him? Better than us combined? He doesn't even have a job! He's just a live-in son-in-law who stays at home all the time…yet he can't even do the housework properly!"
"Are you guys…insane?" I was staring at them incredulously. "Where did you even get that nonsense from? I have a job. We own a store and run our own business, as well as offer services and sell products. Where the hell did you hear about me being unemployed and staying at home all the time?"
"Stop lying," Yan Wan sneered. "A useless trash like you will never be able to find a job. Nobody will hire someone as incompetent as you."
"You are the ones who should stop lying!" Mu Rong Shu shouted, unable to take it anymore. "What's your problem?! Why are you guys making things up and accusing my husband of such nonsense? Who told you those lies?"
"You seriously believe your husband?" Ru Feng scoffed. "Everyone in Hua Xia knows that he's nothing but trash. How can someone like him find a job?"
"Yeah, if he says he has his own business and shop, he's lying." Yan Yang nodded. "Don't be naïve and believe whatever lies he tells you, niece."
"What the hell is wrong with you people?! Are you deluded?!" Mu Rong Shu yelled, unable to control her anger. "I literally help out in my husband's store! We run the shop together! You don't even know what kind of person my husband is, yet you choose to believe all these malicious rumors and deny the truth that we tell you! Is there something wrong with your brains?"
"How dare you…?!" Yang Yan growled. "As the younger generation, you should show more respect for your elders!"
"Do you deserve our respect?" Mu Rong Shu retorted. "Perhaps I would have respected you if you hadn't brainlessly listened to stupid, false rumors and insulted my husband in front of me. Yet you want to demand respect after talking all this nonsense? Are you worth it?"
"You…!"
"Now, now." Yan Wan raised her hands, cutting her parents off before they could furiously quarrel with my wife. "Now's not the time to argue. Liu Zhang Feng is waiting for us. We should go to the mall now before he starts wondering if we stood him up or something."
"Fine." Ru Feng turned to sneer at Mu Rong Shu. "I hope you won't regret it when you meet Liu Zhang Feng and start getting jealous."
Mu Rong Shu buried her pretty face in her palm, utterly exasperated.
The Yan family drove their BMW, a car that Yan Yang owned. Mu Rong Shu and I took my Toyota and we followed them to the new Jiang Nan Mall that had just recently been opened. The place had a massive carpark, and even though there were literally hundreds of cars parked within despite the day being still so early, there was more than enough space. I found a lot and quickly pulled my car into it, parking it there.
"Is the Mr. Tang who owns this mall the same Mr. Tang I'm thinking about?" Mu Rong Shu asked before she disembarked from the car. I snickered.
"Yeah, he is. But don't let them know yet."
"Why not?"
I rolled my eyes. "What, you want to show off? Don't sink to their level. I'm not some arrogant dude who likes flaunting my connections. Tang Li is my friend, not an object to show off to others. I have no intention of using him to make myself look good."
"Ah, right." Mu Rong Shu nodded. She smiled. "Yeah, that's the kind of person you are."
We then met up with the Yan family in the elevator lobby situated next to the carpark. They were able to find a parking lot more quickly than me, and were waiting impatiently. They continued to wear those expressions of condescending arrogance when they spotted me and my wife approaching from the direction of my Toyota.
"Still driving that cheap, ugly Toyota."
"How is it ugly?" I rolled my eyes.
"All Toyotas are cheap and ugly. Look at our BMW, for example." Yan Wan sniffed. "And wait for a moment. Zhang Feng will be arriving any time now."
There was a roar of engines and an expensive crimson Audi zoomed into the carpark. It neatly zoomed into a parking space in one go (unlike me, who had to turn my car several times before I could finally park it within the space). A handsome guy sidled out of the driver's seat and swaggered toward Yan Wan. She ran forward and hugged him.
"Sister Shu, cousin-in-law, this is my boyfriend."
"I'm Liu Zhang Feng." The good-looking guy was wearing an Armani suit, his hair was slick and styled with gel, and his leather shoes gleamed with polish. There was an air of self-importance that was intimidating. He offered me his hand and I shook it. "I've been dating Yan Wan for a while now. You must be her cousin, Mu Rong Shu, and her husband. Wan Er has been telling me a lot about you."
"I certainly hope not," I muttered under my breath after shaking hands with him.
"See? Look at his car, and then look at yours." Yan Wan shook her head in a condescending manner. "He can afford an Audi. All you can buy is a cheap Toyota."
"So you know I can afford a Toyota," I said sourly. "Obviously that means I must have a job where I earn money from, otherwise where did I get the cash to buy my Toyota?"
The three people from the Yan family looked shocked, completely taken aback by my statement of pure logic. On the other hand, Liu Zhang Feng was confused, his jaw hanging open.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. My husband was just joking." Mu Rong Shu quickly stepped in. "Yan Wan, uncle and auntie were teasing him this morning, and he was just using this chance to tease them back."
"You…you obviously didn't buy your car with your own money!" Ru Feng accused, pointing at me. "You took the money from your wife! You got the Mu Rong family to buy a car for you!"
"Please, Auntie Ru Feng." Mu Rong Shu sighed and shook her head. "You of all people should know how rich the Mu Rong family is. If I or any of my other family members were to buy a car for my husband, why would we buy a Toyota?"
"That's…"
"Okay, okay." Yan Yang was looking very embarrassed now. "Enough about that. Let's go check out the mall."
"Good idea." Liu Zhang Feng seemed uncomfortable, so he quickly latched onto this chance to dissolve the awkward atmosphere. "Wan Er, you wanted to buy a handbag, right? I know just the store!"
"Ah, Zhang Feng, you really pamper me too much." Yan Wan giggled as she clung to Liu Zhang Feng's arm. "Thank you so much, honey!"
"What about you?" Ru Feng mocked me. "Can you afford to buy a gift for your wife?"
Mu Rong Shu sighed and took out an amulet that I got from one of the tombs, as well as a ring that I obtained during a solo mission a couple of years ago. Thinking that it was pretty and regretting not buying her a wedding ring, I had given this to her. It had some sort of protective enchantment on it.
"These are gifts from my husband. Are they not good enough for you?"
"How…how?!" Ru Feng spluttered, her jaw dropping. "There's no way he could have afforded…!"
"To be fair, I didn't buy them. But my job involves collecting all these treasures and selling them." I was kind enough to explain, but Ru Feng didn't allow me to finish my sentence.
"Hah! You didn't buy them! I knew you couldn't afford them! You must have stolen them then! So is your so-called job a thief? Are you a burglar?"
"Auntie Ru Feng, if you continue to insult my husband, I shan't be polite any longer." There a tone of warning in Mu Rong Shu's voice that chilled her aunt to the bone. She staggered back in the elevator, falling silent as she perspired profusely. Her husband assisted her too, but he had also gone very pale.
Yan Wan gulped, also looking afraid. Only Liu Zhang Feng looked puzzled, not understanding what was going on between us.
"Your cousin-in-law isn't at all what you told me he was," he whispered to Yan Wan. She scowled, but wisely remained silent.
Fortunately, we didn't have to be trapped inside the elevator with each other for too long. The doors slid open and Liu Zhang Feng enthusiastically led us to the Gucci store where branded handbags and perfume were being sold.
"My!" Yan Wan exclaimed dramatically. "Are you sure about this? Even the cheapest handbag here costs about a hundred thousand yuan!"
"I'm sure." Liu Zhang Feng smiled proudly. "Anything for you, baby."
"Zhang Feng…" Yan Wan turned toward us arrogantly. "As I told you before, he runs his own business. A legitimate, authentic business, unlike some people. His yearly income is a minimum of a million yuan per year!"
"Uh…okay?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was telling us all this. Oh, right. She wanted to show off.
"No matter how much you earn," Yan Wan sneered at me. "My boyfriend earns ten times, no perhaps even a hundred times the amount you make! It's a number you can never imagine."
Was this lady…deluded? Just one of the relics I reclaimed from a single expedition to a tomb netted me a few million yuan. Yet somehow my earnings were much less than someone who needed a year to earn that amount?
However, I didn't say anything and simply stayed quiet. Yan Wan thumbed her nose at me before strolling toward the shelf where the most expensive handbag was and ran her hand along the leather surface. Breaking into a wide grin, she picked it up.
"I want this bag!"
"No problem, baby." Liu Zhang Feng then turned to an expectant sales assistant. "Wrap it up for my girlfriend, please. I'll pay by card."